Ray, OPEC is hilarious. As with so many people, they see markets as something to 'control'. So they are now planning on cutting production, which contradicts Saudi Arabia's announcement a month or three ago that they were going to boost production by 30% over the next year or three.
Oil is a has-been. It's a remnant of the steam engine and the industrial revolution based largely on thermodynamics, belts, gears, cams and wheels.
The Otto cycle internal combustion engine is a veritable Gordian Knot which has become increasingly complex over a century.
A superconductor-levitated and propelled, one moving part vehicle [the vehicle itself being the moving part] would be a much simpler, cheaper, safer, cleaner, quieter, quicker way of moving people around. That's still in the future [note Jay that demand for platinum doesn't feature in such a system].
In the meantime, a fuel-cell propelled 5 moving-part vehicle would be a good intermediary [which does include platinum]. A motor in each wheel would provide propulsion and braking. 4 wheels and the vehicle would be the only moving parts, with a steering motor on each wheel to go around corners. A joystick, or electronics would provide control. Humans controlling vehicles doesn't seem like a good idea. Electronics/photonics react at the speed of light. Humans react in half a second, if they are even bothering to pay attention.
I guess the oil doomsters are realizing that with production being cut going into the northern hemisphere winter, there isn't really a big shortage of the stuff.
OPEC can't keep prices above $40 a barrel for many years because they'll lose too much market share and reduce their net present value. Whether they like it or not, they don't control the price of oil other than for a short time. Competition does and there is a LOT of competition, from insulation to cyberspace to noocular power, wind-power, photovoltaics, ethanol and good old coal.
Mqurice |
